


Apron Strings

by graysonsen



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 02:32:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6835444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graysonsen/pseuds/graysonsen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eve makes a discovery. (That apron Ezekiel was wearing in <i>And Santa's Midnight Run</i> was obviously Jenkins', so I went with it. This also briefly mentions Eve/Flynn, if you'd like to know that.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Apron Strings

It's supposed to be Eve's day off, but, as always, she's back at the Library, taking care of a few things. Saving the world doesn't leave much time for the more mundane necessities of running a team, the planning and paperwork, so she likes to use the opportunity to catch up.

She's making good progress, and after a few hours, she heads to the kitchen to make herself some coffee, humming quietly as she makes her way down the hall.

Where she's almost knocked off her feet by Stone, rushing out of the kitchen with a wide-eyed look of horrified terror plastered over his face. He stares wildly at Eve, and yeah, that's genuine fear, she notes, already on guard. "Don't go in there," Stone says, grabbing hold of Eve's arm with a grip hard enough to bruise, his words a desperate, impassioned plea.

"What?" she says. "Why? What's going on?"

Stone only shakes his head, as if what he's seen is too terrible to even be spoken of. He releases Eve, stomping off up the hall, waving behind him as he once again warns, "Just don't go in there." Eve hears him mutter something that sounds like _brain bleach_ , and then he disappears round the corner.

Eve's hand is immediately on her gun, and she creeps into the kitchen, every sense heightened and on alert, prepared for the worst.

But what she finds is so, _so_ much worse than the worst. Worse than she could have ever imagined. 

Because there's Jones, sitting at the table. There's a plate of cookies in front of him, and to his left is Jenkins, standing at the stove, facing away from the door.

For a moment, Eve can't really take in what she's seeing, like her brain can't actually process the sight. Red straps criss-cross Jenkins' back, and there's a neatly tied red bow perched right above his… whoa.

_Whoa._

"Mother of…" Eve exclaims, holding up her hand to cover her eyes because holy _shit_ but that is a whole lot of Jenkins. He turns around, and Eve gasps, ready to look away but thanks to all that is kind and fortunate in the universe, the apron he's wearing, the apron that is literally the _only_ thing he's wearing, is long enough to cover his… well. Eve doesn't want to even _think_ about that.

"Colonel Baird," he says in greeting, like this is a totally normal scenario. "I thought it was your day off."

"It is," she replies. "Um, w-what, what are you doing?" She tries to sound calm, but she's anything but.

"Making cookies," Jenkins answers, utterly unflustered.

"Peanut butter choc chip," Jones adds, taking one of the said cookies and offering it to Eve, who unthinkingly accepts it and takes a bite. And good lord it's delicious. _Almost_ delicious enough to make her forget exactly how much of Jenkins'... man flesh is on display, right in front of her.

But not quite.

"So, then, what's with the…" Eve gestures vaguely, trying to encompass the situation with some kind of hopelessly futile hand signal. "The nudity," she finally finishes. "What's with the nakedness, then, Jenkins?"

"That's my fault," Jones says.

"It is?" Eve's mind is racing. Maybe this is a bet Jenkins lost, some kind of magic, or simply a practical joke… there has to be _some_ rational explanation, she's sure.

"Yeah." Jones shrugs casually. "I like to check out his arse while he's cooking."

"Baking," Jenkins immediately corrects him.

"Baking," Jones amends.

And Eve can _feel_ her jaw drop, because she's been at the Library a while now and god knows she's seen some strange things, things that are so far beyond out there that's there's basically no coming back from them, but she's never seen anything even close to being as strange as this.

Jenkins? And Jones? _Seriously?_

"You two are…" she stops, taking a deep breath. "You're… together?"

They both nod, in unison, Jenkins holding up a spatula while Jones bites into a cookie. And _huh_ , Eve thinks, because, despite their startlingly similar expressions of wide-eyed innocence, the two of them are very clearly taking no small amount of delight in her discomfort. Enough so that she could maybe convince herself that this is all in jest. Except for the fact that, when she looks closer, there's an almost tangible ease between them, an unspoken camaraderie that she's never really noticed before.

But now that she _does_ see it… well. It actually makes the most oddly peculiar kind of sense, like two puzzle pieces that shouldn't fit together but somehow seem to match perfectly.

She straightens her back, forcing herself into team leader mode. "And how long has this been going on?"

"A while," Jenkins concedes.

"We were going to tell you, but…" Jones' voice trails away and he gives Eve a sheepish smile, his eyes bright with amusement.

"Okay then," she says, firmly. "Well, now I know." She glares at Jones as threateningly as she can manage. "So, firstly, if you hurt him, I kill you."

"I'm not going to _hurt_ him," Jones protests indignantly.

"Colonel Baird," says Jenkins, "I think I'm perfectly capable of managing my own emotional welfare."

"Secondly, same goes for you, Jenkins," she barks. "Hurt him, I hurt you."

"I don't think you _can_ hurt me," Jenkins objects sulkily, pouting so theatrically that Eve has to consciously stop herself from laughing.

"Oh, I'll find a way." Eve points two fingers at her own eyes, then stabs at the air in front of the two of them, first one, then the other. "I'll be watching," she says. "This team is a well-oiled machine and I won't have any entanglements screwing with that. Okay?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Jones says happily.

"Fine," Jenkins agrees, making a show of rolling his eyes, but Eve can see he's trying very hard not to smile.

"And I'll be taking these," Eve announces, whisking the heaping plate of cookies off the table, giving Jones a quick, sly wink as she does so.

He grins back at her. "All yours," he says.

"Okay then." Eve strides out of the room, and she can hardly wait to get back to her desk and basically inhale the whole plate because _wow_ these smell good, but then she has a thought.

She pokes her head back around the kitchen door. "Jenkins?"

"Yes?"

"Don't burn yourself, will you?"

"I promise I'll be careful, Colonel," he says, and this time he does smile at her.

"Good." Eve nods decisively, and heads off back down the hall, hearing quietly affectionate laughter drift after her.

She shakes her head, because all the magic and mystery in this world and yet there's nothing so strangely, curiously wonderful as _people_ , she muses, the almost miraculous way they find each other, in the most unlikely of circumstances.

There's a warmth inside her chest, and she thinks about Flynn. 

He's sent word he'll be back in a few days, and Eve can't wait.


End file.
